Glasstress: The Students (Fashion Space Gallery)

On the eve of the opening of the Glasstress exhibition here at the Fashion Space Gallery, I thought I would ask for some student perspectives on the exhibition in Venice, where many of the pieces have travelled from.

“On the early morning of the 28th of May, I temporarily changed my home address from East London to Canareggio as one of the students at the University of the Arts London to be shortlisted for the position of Exhibition Invigilator Assistant. Together with other seven students, I was given the extraordinary opportunity to live and work in Venice throughout the 55th Venice Biennale.

The collateral event we worked for was Glasstress 2013 White Light / White Heat. Glasstress was conceived for the first time in 2009 by the visionary art entrepreneur Adriano Berengo, with the purpose of exploring the artistic possibilities of glass. Involving an astonishing number of internationally renowned artists, some of them working with glass for the first time, Glasstress pushes the boundaries of this medium, where every single artwork embeds fragility, beauty and high craftsmanship.

From there, we started a blog recording our everyday life and the numerous exhibitions we visited off work. The blog is called Studio-Furnace.

Needless to say, it was a terrific experience, which gave me a grasp of the vibrant atmosphere surrounding the Venice Biennale and put me in contact with other students of UAL.